Tips for the prospective founding CTO working from a clean slate with a non-technical cofounder:
* Get it in writing, and sooner rather than later.
* Do not work for free. A business cofounder should be in charge of finding money. If they can't get enough to pay you to build a PoC, you shouldn't work with them.
* Work together to set near-term goals for the non-technical party, and assess whether they can deliver. If they can't: beware.
* Do not accept less than a 50/50 split unless the other party has decades of experience in a vertical, glowing references, and an astounding Rolodex. A few years at McKinsey or Bain followed by an MBA isn't worth more than the work you put in to get here. (Although it is meaningful.)
* Check references on the other person and do background work. It's amazing how little folks put into this compared with, say, the amount they put into their first hire. This is a source of much pain.
* Qualitatively, you MUST feel a sense of respect for the other person, and it helps if you find them outright impressive. Again, a source of major pain.
Comments
Tips for the prospective founding CTO working from a clean slate with a non-technical cofounder:
* Get it in writing, and sooner rather than later.
* Do not work for free. A business cofounder should be in charge of finding money. If they can't get enough to pay you to build a PoC, you shouldn't work with them.
* Work together to set near-term goals for the non-technical party, and assess whether they can deliver. If they can't: beware.
* Do not accept less than a 50/50 split unless the other party has decades of experience in a vertical, glowing references, and an astounding Rolodex. A few years at McKinsey or Bain followed by an MBA isn't worth more than the work you put in to get here. (Although it is meaningful.)
* Check references on the other person and do background work. It's amazing how little folks put into this compared with, say, the amount they put into their first hire. This is a source of much pain.
* Qualitatively, you MUST feel a sense of respect for the other person, and it helps if you find them outright impressive. Again, a source of major pain.